I'm afraid that the non-hub/small community airports and the US Airways Express system (and the entire regional airline system in general) will take the brunt of these Oil and newly raised fuel taxes increases by significantly lowering service if not out-right elimination of of lower and non-profitable markets.
Many may not be aware, but on Tuesday the US House Ways and Means Committee passed new federal excise taxes that would increase the general aviation (GA) jet fuel tax from 21.8 cents to 35.9 cents per gallon and increase the GA gas tax from 19.3 cents to 24.1 cents per gallon. Thats a 65% and 25%increase in fuel sales to general aviation. And apparently, the airline industry is try to avoid a similar increase by proposing an added fixed domestic departure tax and a variable distance tax.
http://www.aaae.org/government/125_AAAE_Ai...ml?Alert_ID=893
As ticket costs will rise, passengers originating from smaller (hub connecting markets), who purchase ticket far enough in advance to take advantage of the commonly lower fairs, are going to become without options simply because airlines, with regional partners/WO's like US Airways, are not going to be willing to use mainline revenues to susidize those non-hub markets that require multiple aircraft and personnel to connect them to Orlando to see Mickey Mouse.
I have always wondered, in close market pairings like Ithaca, Elmira, and Binghamton NY, or Huntington, Charleston, Lewisburg, Beckley, and Bluefield WV, or even Lynchburg and Roanoke VA, why US Airways doesn't reduce it's presence and serve that/those regions though one airport like Binghamton NY, Charleston WV, and Roanoke VA. In 2005, there were only 401 airports that enplaned more than 10,000 annual passengers, and a large percentage of those 401 enplaned fewer than 50,000 passengers.
In four years, the regional airline industry and scheduled airline service into rural America is going to look very different than it does today.
